9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
BUY IT - to the point and brilliant!, April 22, 2011
This review is from: A Philosopher's Notes: On Optimal Living, Creating an Authentically Awesome Life and Other Such Goodness, Vol. 1 (Hardcover)
I was already a fan of Brian's Philosopher's Notes and now this book! He has taken the best of the best of timeless wisdom and put it in this compact, fun book. Then he delivers it in such a concise and energetic manner. You truly feel his passion for knowledge and most importantly his passion for sharing that knowledge with others!
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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Spiritual Buffet, March 10, 2011
This review is from: A Philosopher's Notes: On Optimal Living, Creating an Authentically Awesome Life and Other Such Goodness, Vol. 1 (Hardcover)
A Philosophy Buffet.
(Total reading time 2-3 minutes)
Today on my quest to read fifty books in the year I finished reading number 8. A Philosophers Notes by Brian Johnson. The little book has almost two hundred pages packed with philosophy, self development and spiritual goodness. Don't be scared it is actually pretty easy to understand. The author uses a simple, current and conversational approach to make some pretty serious ideas understandable.
My favorite part of the book is that unlike many other books in the self development genre it is not overly preachy. Brian Johnson presents the reader with a buffet of ideas and take aways. You are free to pick and choose what you would like as appetizers, the main course and dessert. Yumo!
In life spirituality and religion sometimes collide. A Philosopher's notes shows us that living with Integrity, Blissipline, Gratitude, and a Positive Mindset is a cool thing to do.
The book is also packed with tons of inspiring quotes that on their own are seeds of wisdom.
Hear is a doggie bag of questions from the book to get you started.
Do you honor your commitments?
What do you want?
If you had all the time and money in the world what would you do?
What inspires you?
Besides the book, Brian Johnson also has a really cool website called-you guessed it Philosophersnotes.com . He takes us on a tour of 100 Self Development, Psychology, and Success classics. For a fair price you get 100 20-30 minute mp3s highlighting the major points and concepts of each book. Its the perfect way to absorb knowledge while out on a run or sitting in traffic. The mp3s are also an indispensable motivational tool for when you're having one of those days that just plan sucks.
Along with Leo Babauta's book The Power Of Less it is probably one of things I recommend to my friends most. I have actually had people return and thank me for the great resources each has to offer. Turn the TV off and dive in. There is an entire you out there waiting to be discovered.
On to book number nine.
Thats all I have to say.
Peter Weis
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Grounded wisdom to live a meaningful and productive life, April 22, 2011
This review is from: A Philosopher's Notes: On Optimal Living, Creating an Authentically Awesome Life and Other Such Goodness, Vol. 1 (Hardcover)
Full disclosure -- I work for Brian. But this wasn't always the case.
For nearly 2 years I walked around almost continually plugged into Brian's PhilosophersNotes, where he reviewed 100 of the top self-dev and wisdom books through different epochs in history. In my mid-twenties, Brian provided the compassionate yet urgent push to start living in integrity, the state where there is no gap between what I value and what I actually do on a daily basis. His teaching isn't platitudinous (sorry, I HAD to use that word :)), though at the core it is very straight forward. I think Brian recognizes that we have to approach wisdom and living an optimal life from hundreds to thousands of different perspectives. That's why there are over 1000 Big Ideas in the original PhilosophersNotes and he's currently about 50 Notes into Volume 2 -- exploring even more Big Ideas, any (or all) of which can shift a reader's perspective or give them the right light to have an "A'ha!" moment. Every time I listen to or read Brian's material, these moments come quickly and frequently, and my life has improved dramatically by being connected to his work over the last few years.
A Philosopher's Notes the book is an amazing distillation of the 10 principles of Optimal Living, those key elements which drive a whole, fulfilled, and contributory life. By learning to Know Ourselves, tap into that golden thread of Optimism, to set specific targets and Take Action!, to carry Wisdom within and have the Courage to act on that wisdom everyday, and to Love inwardly and outwardly as we carry out our most inspired Purpose in life -- is what I take away from this book. It's densely packed with goodness and wisdom, and with admitted bias I whole-heartedly recommend it! :)
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